When the N97 came out, there was a lot of hype over the phone. Especially in the indian market where the only phones people knew had QWERTY keyboards that slide out were the N97 and Sony Xperia.  Now Nokia is set to woo the market again with the N97 Mini.

The N97 Mini is essentially a smaller version of the N97. This does not mean it is a cheaper version that tries to imitate its older brother. Infact the N97 Mini is quite the opposite, smaller in size, almost twice the RAM of the N97, better memory management, a nice metallic finish, lifecasting… The list goes on.

The Mini has a 640X360 px touchscreen, a 5MP camera and 8GB of internal memory along with Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS, FM Radio and an accelerometer.

Nokia promises that the N97 mini will have its own set of widgets available on the Ovi Store. They are also localizing the phone for the Indian market by having widgets for different festivals and with widgets that shows news from Indian newspapers to name a few. They also have the Nokia Music store where you can legally buy Indian / Bollywood songs.

The phone was small, has a sliding qwerty keyboard, good wifi capability and GPS. Those are the features most people willing to spend around Rs 25000 are looking for. Overall a good phone for people with lifestyle and design as top priorities.

Personally I am a huge fan of Windows Mobile phones and the iPhone. Not because of the phone but rather due to the software available for them. Nokia seems to be heading in the right direction with the Ovi store, will have to wait and see how it develops.